Kingsman: The Secret Service

Sick of spy films being too drab and serious all the time? Well don't fear, Mathew Vaughn has made a fun action spy film for an adult audience, starring Colin Firth as a kick ass secret agent. It's cool, funny and entertaining, read on to find out my full verdict on Kingsman: The Secret Service.

Kingsman follows Eggsy, a character who is recruited into a secret spy agency by Harry Hart, one of the agencies top spy's. Eggsy lives in a South London housing estate and is headed for a life behind bars. Thankfully Harry sees the potential in the youth to help sort his future out with the Kingsmen.

Taron Eggerton plays Eggsy and is pretty much a newbie to the film industry. He is brilliant in Kingsman and plays his character really well. He is set up very quickly as someone you want to route for and will stick that way for the rest of the film. His mentor Harry is played by Colin Firth who is absolutely brilliant and completely steals the film. His mix of cool and badass is something that needs to be witnessed and is thoroughly entertaining to watch. Other actors include Micheal Caine (who is severely underused), Mark Strong (who is always great) and Samuel L Jackson, who provides an amusing performance as the main villain.

I really enjoyed this film, it's a good fun solid action spy flick. As much as it is a spoof of classic spy films it never crosses the line into Austin Powers territory, it has the potential to do its own thing, with a fun plot and comedic characters. I did find parts of it to be cliche and predictable but there are also a few twists to be enjoyed along the way.

The action is really cool and done in a very stylised way that at times feels like a video game (but in a good way), it's very cartoony and keeps in style with the rest of the film. It is a lot of fun to watch. If over the top comic violence is not your thing, this may be one to miss.

I felt the first half of the film was a lot better done than the second. Some of the jokes started to wear thin and the excessive use of bad language started to feel like a shock tactic rather than funny. I never usually have a problem with this in films but I felt that the comedy was definitely pandering to a 'lad' culture which has been occurring for quite some time. That's not to say none of it was funny but some of it was definitely  for different members of the audience rather than myself. At the end of the day this is based on a Mark Millar comic book and after Kick Ass we all know he likes to take the audience out of their comfort zones. This is definitely not for the easily offended.

With these few problems aside, this film is still a great watch and a good time at the cinema. Mathew Vaughn proves again that he is one of the most entertaining film directors around. Kingsman: The Secret Service is good old fashioned spy fun mixed with modern and contemporary characters. I am giving it a rating of 4/5.

What did you think of the film? Let me know in the comments below.

Thanks for reading!